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Sujatha and her grandmother outside their hut |
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“Help A Child” was founded in 2002 through Somaiya Grameen Vikas Kendra,
as a joint project of Somaiya Vidyavihar Trust and Godavari Biorefineries Ltd |
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A young girl, Sujata Bisnal was our inspiration to start “Help A Child”.
Sujata had scored well in her 10th standard exams but was unable to continue her
education as her family planned to have her married soon as they did not have the
resources to allow her to continue school and her mother wanted to lessen the burden
on the family.
Sujata’s life had been one of hardships, her father had abandoned the family
when she was young and they had gone to live in her grandmother’s house. Her
mother’s brother who had been supporting them was injured and could no longer
work, leaving her mother and aunt to support the family as daily wage labourers.Sujata
believed that there was no hope for her to study further, she had to either start
working or marry and leave the family. |
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Moved by her story, Samir Somaiya, Chairman and Managing Director of Godavari Biorefineries
Ltd, offered to sponsor her further education and Sujata became the first student
of the Help A Child project. Today she has graduated with a Bachelor of Education
and is currently pursuing a Master of Arts while she waits for the teacher qualifying
exams.
Since this small beginning, “Help A Child” has sponsored more than 1000
deserving students, helping them to achieve dreams of education that would otherwise
be impossible. While we have come along way, we know that there are many Sujata’s
still out there without the means to continue their study. We dream of a day when
we will be able to reach out to all of them.
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